Title: Something in the EyesAuthor: LookingForOctoberPrompt: The Thing in Mrs Faversham's AtticSetting: Between Season 4 and Season 5Words: 1000

The hell of it was that he hadn't even been careless. Spike knew the Slayer's patrol schedule like he knew which days each butcher shop would have fresh pig's blood in, and after that cock up at the Initiative, he made a point of keeping out of her way. He wasn't dust yet, and he wanted to keep it that way. No point in reminding her of how he'd played her and her friends; no point tempting her and her stake-happy hands.

So he'd been paying attention, going about his business with an eye out, and yet here she was blocking his path, the tiny blonde with the big frown.

"What are you doing here, Spike," she said. It wasn't a question. She was staking a claim to his business, no question about it.

"Just on my way home, love," he said, as meek as he could manage. He was willing to admit he owed her something.

"From what?"

"The sort of innocent night on the town I'd bring my dear old granny along for, if I had one." That wasn't going to cut it, but he had to try.

"Doing what, exactly?"

He judged her annoyance level, decided that the stake wasn't coming out in the next five seconds. "None of your bloody business," he said, making like he was going to brush past her.

She moved to block him, and he let her. "Doing what?" she repeated patiently. He got the message as clearly as if she'd spelled it out. This claim ran deep, as deep as that streak of responsibility that hardened her into a Slayer to be reckoned with. You're mine, her steady gaze said. I let you live, but I'm a good little Slayer. You're not getting away with anything on my watch. I'll stake you first, don't think I won't.

Spike sighed. He believed her. "A drink or two at Willy's, then scavenging some of that fancy gear the government's abandoning--" Her eyes narrowed. "Relax Slayer. I know a bloke who knows a demon who's starting a gym, he wants the plexiglass and some of the lighting. As legitimate as it gets, and a bloke's got to bring in the green stuff somehow. Blood and smokes aren't free, you know."

"You sure know how to show your dear granny a good time," Buffy said. Was that the hint of a smile? But she wasn't giving up yet, she was just contemplating her next question. He tried to come up with something else to give her to show willing, impress her a little. He was opening his mouth when a scream split the air.

He already had his mouth open, so he got his words started before Buffy could say anything. "That's your call, I'll just be--"

"Not so fast, buster. I'm not done with you yet. You're coming with me."

He bristled, she glared, and it was easy to see she wasn't going to take no for an answer. Hesitate too long and-- he couldn't read her expression, he wasn't sure how far she'd go. Damn her anyway. He took off in the direction of the scream.

-.-.-

The trail they'd been following for half an hour went straight up the side of a dark house to a broken attic window. The wood siding was riddled with claw marks.

"You first," she said. Of course she wasn't going to let him out of her sight, and the siding was rough enough that he could climb up, but when he got there, he couldn't enter. He let go, landing silently next to Buffy.

"I didn't see the thing--" her eyebrow raised-- "beast, demon, whatever the hell we're chasing. But there's another boy chained up in there, about ten years old. And the owner of the place is human and alive. I can't get in."

"Okay, I'll be right back," she said. "Don't go anywhere." She hesitated, then swallowed her threats, pretending to trust him. He'd won that much with his vampire sense of smell; she'd never have got this far without him. But he could see the exact moment she dismissed him, her mind turning to what she had to do as she climbed up and disappeared through the window.

Long minutes passed. He paced and listened, but there was nothing to hear but the occasional mysterious rattle of a chain. Finally, he couldn't stand it any longer. He climbed up after her.

When he peered in, the boy was huddled in a corner as far from Buffy as his chains allowed. His eyes darted wildly here and there, anywhere but her. Buffy looked frustrated; she'd almost got one of the links in the chain unbent, but what was she going to do then?

Spike chuckled soundlessly to himself. A little Slayer dilemma...

The door to the attic banged open and a beast -- Spike instantly recognized the smell of the thing they'd been chasing -- strutted in. Buffy darted in front of the boy and dropped into a defensive stance.

The beast and Buffy started feeling each other out, feinting and snapping, but Spike watched the boy. The boy watched the beast. He never took his eyes off it, from the instant it paraded in. He was intent and self-possessed and reverent. The beast was his fate; he faced it and tried to understand its actions, every nuance. Nothing else mattered.

So now I'm wondering if a vampire could lob things into a house if he wasn't invited... I'd always presumed not, but I can't think of any instance in canon that definitively answers that. Think of the plot possibilities...

Oh wow, I've been thinking about this all morning. I was just being literal, can't enter, oh here's the obvious loophole (they use a similar loophole to blow up Caritas despite a no violence spell in Angel), but on a mythological/magical level you're safe from vampires while inside your home makes sense. (And it could be part of the answer to something I'd been trying to figure out for another story, so thanks!)

But...if a vampire hits the button to launch a nuclear bomb at an inhabited area, what happens? Although I have to admit I really like the idea that mysteriously all the houses survive, and people can't be harmed by radiation while inside the houses.

It hit me in the shower this morning (as all lightbulb moments do) that *yes* we've seen vamps throw things though the mystical barrier - Harmony's gang threw a brick through Buffy's living room window if I remember right.

ETA: And I just scrolled down and saw somebody else thought of it too. But now we know!

"So now I'm wondering if a vampire could lob things into a house if he wasn't invited... I'd always presumed not, but I can't think of any instance in canon that definitively answers that. Think of the plot possibilities..."

Harmony throws a rock through the window at Buffy's in season 5, in the episode where Dawn invites her in, maybe episode two?

From Real Me transcript via Buffyworld:

ANYAOh, I'm so pleased! Can I trade in thechildren for more cash?CRASH! The FRONT WINDOW SHATTERS as something is thrown through it. Glass sprays everywhere.

Dawn SCREAMS. Xander instinctively pushes her down and cowers, along with Anya. Then, he sees…

XANDER'S POV - A ROCK on the floor with a NOTE tied to it.

He picks up the rock and removes the note.

INSERT NOTE: Written in BLOOD red, it reads: "Slayer - Come Out and Die!" The "I" over the last word is dotted with a "smiley face."